Downstate mystery: Where is crash survivor?

December 06, 2010

LaSalle County sheriff's police have a mystery: Where is the woman who they believe was riding with a man killed in a one-car auto accident early Sunday?

Downstate authorities are looking for the dead man's wife, who they believe survived the crash. The couple was returning from a holiday party when the accident happened about 6 miles from their home in Ransom, Ill.

The LaSalle County sheriff's office said it was searching for Tanya M. Shannon, 40. She is described as 5-foot-2 and 125 pounds, with shoulder-length strawberry blond hair and green eyes.

She was last seen wearing a red dress and a gray fleece, hooded jacket. She also wears glasses.

A sheriff's deputy on patrol came across a one-car accident in Brookfield Township about 1:45 a.m. Sunday and found Dale Shannon, 41, dead behind the wheel. A relative said police told the family that the car had spun out. The rear of the car hit a pole, reportedly breaking Shannon's back.

Footprints were found in the snow leading from the car.

"Evidence at the scene indicated that a second person was also in the vehicle at the time of the accident," the sheriff's office said in a news release. That person "was possibly the wife of the deceased driver," it added.

A search, which included a plane from the Illinois State Police, was conducted throughout the day but found nothing.

"It's very mysterious what might have happened to Tanya," said Dale Shannon's sister, Donna Baker. "We checked the area hospitals and nothing, so we don't know if someone picked her up and took her somewhere. We just don't know."

The couple, who had been married 20 years, was on their way home from a holiday party in Streator, Ill., hosted by her brother's employer, Baker said.

"They were having a great time--they were dancing together, really cutting up a rug," said Baker, who was at the party. "Both left the party arm in arm. I had no idea anything like this would happen."

Dale was a diesel mechanic, Baker said. Tanya worked part time as a waitress in Morris, Ill.

The couple has four daughters, ages 15, 10, 7 and 4, she said. "Right now I have the kids until we find Tanya," Baker said.

She said the car was Tanya's, but Dale was driving it. "He was sober at the party," she said. "He was very responsible and adamant about taking precautions when they went out. I know the accident wasn't a result of anything like that."